Types of complaints and warranties in Hungary

If Hungarian consumers have problems with the purchased products, they can take advantage of several rights. Their rules are specified by local law and apply also to sellers who export products into that country. That means if you share offers on allegro.hu — you need to make sure that the buyers in that marketplace can exercise the rights granted to them by Hungarian law.

The types of rights that concern complaints and warranties differ in the scope and rules of their application. Three of them are mandatory:

• statutory warranty (in Hungarian: kellékszavatosság)
• manufacturer warranty (in Hungarian: termékszavatosság)
• commercial warranty (in Hungarian: kereskedelmi jótállás) — mandatory for selected product categories.

That means you need to make sure that the buyers from Hungary can exercise the above rights — in the offers those rights concern. The key rules and scope of those rights are described below.

You can additionally offer the extended warranty — do it if you want to extend the period or scope of buyer protection. The extended warranty is not mandatory and its terms depend only on the seller's decision.

What you need to inform your customers about before the purchase

You are obliged to complete the information about complaints and warranty terms on your Allegro account. You can do it in the appropriate format in the following tabs:

• for the complaint within the statutory warranty — in the Complaints Terms tab
• for the warranty — in the Warranty Information tab.

In the next part of the article, you will also learn about your other obligations as a seller in Hungary.

How much time you have to address the complaint on allegro.hu

Under Hungarian law, you need to respond to the consumer's report within 5 days.

Additionally, if you accept the complaint, and the exchange or repair of the product takes longer than 15 days — you need to inform the buyer about it and provide the estimated time of the repair or exchange. 30 days is the general deadline for handling complaints.

The rules of mandatory warranty rights in Hungary

The statutory warranty

• Within the statutory warranty, buyers may complain about a product that does not conform with the agreement. The seller is responsible for ensuring the conformity of the goods with the agreement.
• The statutory warranty is mandatory for all physical products and digital services. On Allegro, you can add its detailed terms in the Complaints Terms tab — you cannot list an offer without them.
• The statutory warranty is valid for 2 years from the purchase.
• If you want to reject the complaint the buyer filed as part of the statutory warranty:

• within the first 12 months from the purchase — you have to prove that the complaint is unjustified and that the product conforms with the agreement
• after 12 months from the purchase — the buyer has to prove that their complaint is justified — that at the moment of purchase, the product did not meet the quality requirements specified in the agreement or the applicable law.

The manufacturer warranty

• Within the manufacturer warranty, the manufacturer — the producer of a given product — is responsible for handling the complaint.
• The manufacturer warranty is mandatory for all physical products.
• The manufacturer warranty is valid for 2 years from the purchase.
• Throughout the warranty period, the buyer has to prove that the claim is justified if they want to receive compensation.

The commercial warranty

• Within the commercial warranty, the seller is responsible for the proper functioning of the product and its conformity with the offer.
• The commercial warranty is mandatory for physical products that:

• are listed in the appendix to the Government Regulation No. 151/2003. (IX.22) and
• cost more than 10,000 HUF.

• The regulation mentions, for example, consumer electronics and vehicles — it does not mention, for example, clothes or footwear. Based on the information from the regulation, we have prepared a detailed list of categories on Allegro that the commercial warranty obligations may apply to — click here to download it.

• The commercial warranty is valid:

• for 2 years from the purchase — if the product price is between 10,000 and 250,000 HUF
• for 3 years from the purchase — if the product price exceeds 250,000 HUF.

• For every purchase subject to commercial warranty, you need to attach the warranty certificate — in Hungarian or with Hungarian translation. The certificate should include:

• the name and address of the warrantor
• indication of the product the warranty applies to
• warranty terms and rules
• the way the buyer can use the warranty — the description of steps they have to follow
• clear information that the buyer may pursue their rights based on Hungarian law without additional costs — even if they have also used the commercial warranty.

• If you want to reject the complaint the buyer has filed as part of the commercial warranty — you have to prove that the complaint is unjustified. That rule applies throughout the whole warranty period.

What it means for you

If you share offers in the categories the mandatory commercial warranty may apply to on allegro.hu — we will check whether their prices do not exceed 10,000 HUF. If they do, buyers from Hungary will see the information about a 2 or 3-year commercial warranty in them.

When and how we adjust the warranty period in your offers

We will automatically adjust the modified warranty period based on the offer price and the rules described above. We will show it to buyers instead of the warranty period you have set for that offer in the Warranty Information tab.

We will adjust the warranty period in your offer only if a given offer:

• is displayed on allegro.hu
• is listed in one of the categories the commercial warranty obligation may apply to — download their complete list
• has a warranty period shorter than the one required by Hungarian law, or has no warranty set.

If in such an offer you already have a warranty period that equals or is longer than the one required by Hungarian law — we will not change anything in it.

Where buyers will see the altered warranty period

We will display the altered warranty period only on allegro.hu and will only apply it to buyers from that marketplace. Warranty terms for other marketplaces will remain the same — based on what you provide in the Warranty Information tab.

The above rules impact only the warranty period we display in offers on allegro.hu. The other details you complete in the Warranty Information tab will remain the same.

That means if you complete the Warranty Information (optional) field — we will show it to buyers in all the marketplaces, including allegro.hu. That is why you should add the translation of this information into Hungarian. In that field, you can also add the mandatory information about warranty types in Hungarian.

Additional seller obligations that concern warranty

If you sell your products to buyers from Hungary, the local regulations also require you to:

• provide the buyer with the receipt when you collect the product the complaint concerns
• keep a register of all the complaints buyers have filed to you
• provide the buyer with the justification — if you handle the complaint differently from how the buyer prefers, for example, you offer a refund instead of repair.

What you need to include in the receipt when you collect the product the complaint concerns

When you collect the product from the buyer to handle the complaint, you are obliged to provide them with the product collection receipt. The receipt should include:

• the buyer's first and last name and their address
• information necessary for product identification
• the date when you collect the product for the complaint
• the date when the buyer may collect the product.

What you need to include in the complaint register

For every complaint buyers file to you, keep the following information in the register:

• the buyer's first and last name and their address
• the specification and price of the product the complaint concerns
• date of sale
• date of filing the complaint
• the description of the product's defect presented by the buyer
• buyer's claim — the solution the buyer prefers
• information about whether the complaint was accepted and the way it was handled — unless, as a seller, you cannot make a statement in that scope at the time of filing the complaint. If you do not accept the complaint or you handle it in a different way than how the buyer prefers — you also need to include the justification of your decision in the register.

The register must contain information that in case of a consumer dispute, the buyer may initiate proceedings in an arbitration court.